Baca juga

No Skimpy Garland

Skimpy garland is not something I'm fond of. I am also not fond of paying huge amounts of money for nice, thick luxurious looking garland. So I decided to make my own. I am aware that most people have moved on, and are thinking of spring, but if I don't record this now, I probably won't get to it or remember to do it next year!

Start by looking for the fullest, long-needle garland you can find at a reasonable price. I purchased mine at AC Moore for $19.99 for a 9' piece. I bought 5 pieces for my outside decorations, 2 for my mantle, and 1 to cut up and use in wreaths and for other decorations.

Start by opening up the garland and lying it on a flat surface. I was fortunate that my friend allowed me to work in her interior decorating shop.

Take a cheaper garland, I used some I already had from previous years, and lie it in the center and on top of the long-needle garland, opening it up and fluffing needles as you go. At this point, I also went ahead and put on white lights. I used a strand of 100 lights for each 9' piece of garland. Make sure you test them ahead of time!

I used cable ties to secure the two garlands together. I secured the garlands underneath the lights, just in case I had to remove the lights--you know how they can be working one minute and out the next.

These zip ties worked like a charm. You just put them through, pull them tight, and cut off the excess. No tying or twisting necessary!

Here is a closeup of the garlands being secured. The zip ties went under the lights just in case I had light issues. At this point, you are ready to decorate your garland with your desired decorations. I don't have pictures of the steps, but I just placed the decorations on first where I thought they looked good, and hot-glued them on. I used iced holly, iced berries, pine cones, and red birds in nests. I also used some of the extra garland to make a centerpiece, and tied on a red bow. Here's how it looked when it was all done!

No skimpy garland! I also matched the wreath to the decorations on the garland to give it a custom look. The ribbon on the light fixtures matches the ribbon on the wreath.

On the centerpiece, I added three ornaments that matched the ones on the wreath, a red bow, and pieces of holly.

The centerpiece is totally separate, I just hooked it on after putting up the garland.

I also used garland on the rails.

I added berries, holly, and birds to my live trees in the pots, along with white lights.